Chris's AI Deep Dive

Autonomy

21 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lawrence D. Burns explores the historical evolution and future potential of self-driving technology. The narrative tracks the transition from early ro...

Replace, Augment, Disrupt: AI Organizational Decisions and the Trilemma

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This explores the profound influence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) on organizational decision-making, pr...

Canaries in the Coal Mine: AI Employment Effects

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An academic paper documents six key findings characterizing shifts in the American labor market following the widespread adoption of generative AI, ut...

AI Agents: Economics of Market Design Transformation

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is an excerpt from a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper authored by multiple researchers, examining the economic implicati...

Accounting for Growth and Financial Deception

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Accounting for Growth" by Terry Smith function as a critical guide intended to help readers avoid making poor investment choices by identif...

Capital Account: A Money Manager's Report of the Dot Com Bubble

06 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is comprised of excerpts from Edward Chancellor's book, "Capital Account: A Money Manager's Report," which compiles ess...

3. Containing the Technological Wave's Threat to the Nation-State

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This articulates a critical examination of the nation-state's fragility in the face of rapidly advancing technologies, particularly Artificial Int...

2. The Coming Wave of Intelligence and Life

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This examine the rapid, exponential growth of several general-purpose technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI) and synthetic biology, a...

1. The Inevitable Wave: AI and Synthetic Biology

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This offers an extensive overview of technological waves throughout human history, beginning with a discussion of how flood myths and literal flood ev...

5. Acquiring Values and Choosing Criteria for Superintelligence

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This explores the "value-loading problem" for superintelligence, which centers on how to instill human-compatible final goals into an artifi...

4. Controlling Superintelligence: Capability and Motivation Methods

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This explores the control problem associated with the creation of artificial superintelligence, defining it as a unique principal-agent challenge wher...

3. Superintelligence: Powers, Motivations, and Existential Risks

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This an extensive examination of the theoretical powers, motivations, and potential risks associated with the emergence of a digital superintelligent ...

2. The Kinetics of an Intelligence Explosion

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This explores the potential kinetics of an intelligence explosion—the speed at which a machine, once it achieves human-level general intelligence, p...

1. Paths and Forms of Superintelligence

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This offers an extensive overview of the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence and machine superintelligence, exploring various growth ...

Null Compliance is Not Non-Compliance in NYC's Algorithm Audits

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This examines the initial implementation and effectiveness of New York City's Local Law 144 (LL 144), a landmark regulation mandating bias audits ...

Rickover: Underway My Way

18 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The provided excerpts come from the book Rickover: Underway My Way, authored by Joann DiGennaro with Joe David, which explores the life and legacy of ...

Drivers of Diverging Electricity Costs in California

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The is titled "Wires and fire: Wildfire investment and network cost differences across California’s power providers," authored by Madalsa ...

RAND's Influence and Division in the Vietnam War

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The provided excerpts chronicle the RAND Corporation's deep, often contentious, involvement in research related to the Vietnam War, highlighting i...

The Power of the Machine: Global Inequality

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode offers excerpts from Alf Hornborg's book, The Power of the Machine: Global Inequalities of Economy, Technology, and Environment, whic...

American Technological Sublime

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The episode is comprised of excerpts from David E. Nye's book, American Technological Sublime, which explores the concept of the sublime—a feeli...

The Crypto Multiplier

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This paper by Rod Garrett and Maarten van Oordt develops the concept of a "crypto multiplier," which quantifies how a cryptocurrency's m...

The Venture Capital Cycle: Syndication, Exit, and Performance Pt 3

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This compilation of excerpts explores various aspects of venture capital investments and their impact on firms in the biotechnology industry. The text...

The Venture Capital Cycle: Structure and Investment Strategies Pt 2

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This academic text examines various aspects of venture capital structures and their impact on firm performance and investment strategies. The analysis...

The Venture Capital Cycle Pt 1

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Venture Capital Cycle by Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner examines the venture capital industry in the United States, providing a systematic overview ...

Paper Presentation

31 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

5/22/10

FHEVM: Cross-Chain Confidential Smart Contracts

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This introduces a groundbreaking cross-chain protocol designed to enable confidential smart contracts across various Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains. ...

6. Bubbles, Euphoria, and Economic Reality

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This examines the phenomenon of asset price bubbles, illustrating how periods of economic euphoria often lead to speculative investment and the constr...

5. The Anatomy of Financial Crises: From Euphoria to Collapse

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This outlines the cyclical nature of financial crises, beginning with an economic expansion, evolving into euphoria and rapidly increasing asset price...

4. Credit Expansion and Speculative Manias

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This examines the historical relationship between credit expansion, financial innovations, and economic instability, particularly focusing on the caus...

3. The Dynamics of Speculative Manias

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This examines speculative manias and their relationship to market rationality, exploring how periods of excessive investment in particular assets ofte...

2. The Anatomy of Financial Crises

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This offers an overview of financial crises, contrasting the historian's view of unique events with the economist's search for systematic patterns. It...

1. Global Financial Bubbles and Crises: A Historical Analysis

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This offers an extensive overview of financial crises, particularly focusing on four distinct waves of global financial instability since the 1970s. I...

Quantum-Safe Financial Security: An IBM Imperative

27 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The emergence of cryptographically relevant quantum computers (CRQCs) poses a severe and imminent threat to current public-key encryption algorithms, ...

Global Payments 2024: Simpler Interfaces, Complex Reality

26 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The "McKinsey Global Payments Report 2024: Simpler interfaces, complex reality" discusses the evolving global payments landscape, noting tha...

The Next Payments Era: Opportunities for Banks

26 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The provided text is an excerpt from the "2023 McKinsey Global Payments Report," titled "On the cusp of the next payments era: Future o...

Cyber Resilience for Financial Services: A Ticking Clock

26 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This report, a collaboration between McKinsey & Company and the Institute of International Finance (IIF), examines the increasing cyber risks face...

Cryptographic Engineering and Side-Channel Attacks

26 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This compilation, Cryptographic Engineering, offers a comprehensive guide for aspiring cryptographic engineers, stemming from lecture notes delivered...

Preface to Bitcoin: A Digital Cash History

23 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We are tracing the historical evolution of electronic payment systems that laid the groundwork for its development. It explores the challenges and inn...

Class: A Guide Through the American Status System

29 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Class: A Guide Through the American Status System," examines the subtle, often unconscious markers of social class in the United States. Fu...

Learn AI-Assisted Python Programming

29 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The introduction acknowledges the challenges of learning programming and positions AI assistants as a way to overcome these difficulties, emphasizing ...

Changing the Game

29 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Examples and discussions of various game types and their potential applications in advertising and employee training, including product placement, adv...

10: Building Robust AI Applications: Architecture and Feedback

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode explores the crucial aspects of building successful AI applications by outlining a step-by-step architecture development process. It begi...

9: AI Model Inference Optimization

17 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode explores optimizing AI model inference for speed and cost, recognizing that a model's real-world utility depends on its efficient dep...

8: Engineering High-Quality Datasets for AI Models

17 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode emphasizes the crucial role of dataset engineering in the success of AI models, asserting that data quality and diversity are as importan...

7: Finetuning, PEFT, and Model Merging

17 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode provides an overview of finetuning, a method for adapting AI models to specific tasks by adjusting their internal parameters, contrasting...

6: Retrieval-Augmented Generation and AI Agents

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode explores advanced techniques for improving large language model performance beyond basic prompting, focusing on two main patterns: Retrie...

5: Prompting, Attacks, and Defenses

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode provides an extensive overview of prompt engineering, explaining it as the crucial process of crafting instructions to guide AI models wi...

4: Evaluating AI Systems and Building Evaluation Pipelines

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode outlines crucial considerations for evaluating AI systems, emphasizing that a model's value is tied to its specific application. It d...

Large Language Model Labor Market Impacts

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This research explores the potential effects of large language models (LLMs), like GPTs, on the U.S. workforce. It uses a new method involving both hu...

Governing Debt and Risk: A Global Analysis . Ray Dalio Pt 4

03 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We present an assessment of the long-term debt risks for central governments and central banks in major countries, utilizing a dashboard of indicators...

Debt Crises: 1944 to Present. Ray Dalio Pt 3

03 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We present a detailed examination of macroeconomic cycles, focusing on debt, money, and economic forces over the past 80 years, particularly in the US...

How Countries Go Broke by Ray Dalio Part 2

01 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An in-depth analysis of how central governments and central banks go broke, focusing on the archetypical sequence of events leading to major debt cris...

Understanding How Countries Go Broke by Ray Dalio Pt 1

01 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This extensive document explores the Big Debt Cycle, a long-term financial phenomenon characterized by periods of credit expansion culminating in unsu...

Real-World AI Task Usage Across Occupations

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We detail a novel empirical study analyzing AI usage patterns by examining millions of Claude.ai conversations through the lens of U.S. Department of ...

Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2025

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The AI Index Report 2025, presents a multifaceted overview of the global state of artificial intelligence. It highlights advancements in AI models and...

Venture Capital and Strategic Investment for Government Mission Capabilities

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This RAND Corporation research report examines government strategic investment (GSI) initiatives aimed at developing new capabilities for government m...

Mastering Meetings and Career Growth

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Part 6 serves as a guide for navigating the unspoken rules of the professional world to enhance one's competence, involvement, and compatibility (...

Reading People and Workplace Dynamics

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Part 5 offers guidance on navigating workplace dynamics and building professional relationships. It emphasizes the importance of understanding hidden ...

Mastering Workplace Dynamics: A Guide to Professional Success

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Part 4 serves as a guide for navigating the professional world, contrasting it with academic life by highlighting the differences in instructions, dea...

Navigating Workplace Interactions and Expectations

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Part 3 offer guidance on navigating workplace dynamics by focusing on how individuals present themselves and their work. The text emphasizes the impor...

Attempting Success: Initiative in Early Career

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Part 2 offers guidance for individuals starting new roles or projects, emphasizing the importance of a proactive mindset and strategic engagement. It ...

The Unspoken Rules of Workplace Success

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Part1 introduces the concept of unspoken rules in the workplace, highlighting how these unwritten expectations significantly impact career success. Th...

The Simple Macroeconomics of AI

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This academic paper examines the potential macroeconomic impacts of artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, focusing on productivity, wag...

Trump Economic Team's Plan to Reform the Federal Reserve

04 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This Manhattan Institute report critiques the Federal Reserve's current governance, arguing it has led to monetary policy errors and an overreach ...

Why Trump's Tariffs Actually Make Sense (Origins of a Trade War)

03 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What does the Trump team actually want to accomplish with tariffs? We discuss a 2024 paper by Stephen Miran, Trump's economics advisor, analyzing pote...

Weaponizing Research Funding: The Attack on Universities

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Harvard University faced potential financial jeopardy as the Trump administration threatened to withhold billions in federal research funding. The opi...

Stocks for the Long Run? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no.

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This academic paper challenges the long-held "Stocks for the Long Run" thesis popularized by Jeremy Siegel. By utilizing newly available dig...

Gary Stevenson's "The Trading Game: A Confession"

24 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gary Stevenson's "The Trading Game: A Confession" recounts his improbable journey from being expelled from high school for selling canna...

Lifecycle Investing: Stocks versus Bonds

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This research paper critically examines conventional lifecycle investment advice, specifically the recommendation to diversify with bonds and decrease...

Lifetime Portfolio Selection Under Uncertainty

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The provided text is an excerpt from a discussion analyzing Robert C. Merton's seminal 1969 paper, "Lifetime Portfolio Selection Under Uncert...

Superintelligence Strategy: Deterrence, Nonproliferation, and Competitiveness

15 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This expert strategy document addresses the national security implications of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, particularly the anticipated ...

California's Electricity Problem

08 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This research investigates the increasing electricity costs in California, focusing on investor-owned utilities (IOUs), publicly-owned utilities (POUs...

Netflix and Video Games: The Streaming Giant's Gaming Strategy

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This analysis explores Netflix's strategic move into video games, examining the reasons behind this expansion beyond financial gains. The piece ar...

Why Roblox is Unprofitable

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This analysis examines Roblox's impressive scale and user engagement alongside its financial challenges. Despite boasting millions of users and su...

Youtube's Recommendation Algorithmn

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We detail YouTube's recommendation system, which leverages deep learning to personalize video suggestions for over a billion users. It addresses the c...

The Federal Reserve and the Next Financial Crisis: Analysis of It's Doomsday Book

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's been a while since we had a bubble pop. Via the Freedom of Information Act, we are finally able to see an internal Federal Reserve Bank of New Yo...

Housing Public Policy: A Home Without Equity Is Just A Rental With Debt

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode discusses a 2001 report on the U.S. housing market, focusing on the boom of the 1990s. The author highlights the significant easing of cr...

16. Questions and Speculations on Artificial Intelligence

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This text presents a series of questions and answers concerning the future of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically focusing on self-driving c...

15. Knowledge, Abstraction, and Analogy in AI

15 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode discusses the challenges of creating truly intelligent machines. The author explores past and present attempts to imbue AI with commonse...

14. The Barrier of Meaning: Understanding in Humans and AI

14 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This chapter from a book explores the "barrier of meaning" separating current AI from human-level intelligence, focusing on human understanding. It ex...

13. Question Answering and the Limits of AI

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The text explores the history and limitations of question-answering AI systems. It begins by examining the aspirational Star Trek computer and contr...

12. Machine Translation and Image Captioning

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This text explores the capabilities and limitations of current machine translation and image captioning systems. These systems, largely based on enco...

11. Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This explores the challenges and recent advancements in natural language processing (NLP), a field of artificial intelligence focused on enabling co...

10. Beyond Games: The Limits and Potential of Reinforcement Learning

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The text explores the limitations of current reinforcement learning AI, despite its successes in game-playing. While AI has achieved superhuman perfo...

9. Mastering Games with Deep Learning

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This text traces the history of artificial intelligence (AI) in game playing, starting with early attempts at programming checkers and chess. It focus...

8. Reinforcement Learning: Training Robots and Beyond

08 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This text explains reinforcement learning, a machine learning technique inspired by operant conditioning. It uses the example of a robotic dog learn...

7. Trustworthy AI: Benefits, Trade-offs, and Ethics

07 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The provided text explores the ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on the tension between AI's potential benefits and it...

6. The Limitations of Deep Learning

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This chapter explores the limitations of current deep learning systems. Despite their successes in tasks like image recognition, these systems differ ...

5. ImageNet and the Rise of ConvNets

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This text discusses the history and impact of convolutional neural networks (ConvNets) in computer vision, specifically focusing on their role in the ...

4. Easy Things Are Hard: The Deep Learning Revolution in Computer Vision

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This text explains the challenges of computer vision and the success of convolutional neural networks (ConvNets) in overcoming them. It traces the his...

3. Artificial Intelligence: The Quest for Human-Level Intelligence

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This text explores the history of artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on periods of rapid advancement ("AI springs") and subsequent periods of s...

2. Neural Networks and the Ascent of Machine Learning

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This text explains the history and mechanics of multilayer neural networks, a type of artificial intelligence. It details how these networks, initiall...

1. The Genesis of Artificial Intelligence

01 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode traces the history of artificial intelligence (AI), beginning with its conception at the 1956 Dartmouth Workshop. It contrasts two major ...

The Rise and Fall of a Forbidden Fruit

01 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that for most of the 20th century, America only had one type of apple? Yep, that Red Delicious monstrosity that was more decorative than ...

The Grandfather of Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM): Arpad Elo and Chess History

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How does the history of chess relate to SBMM in games like League of Legends or Rocket League? Well, it all started with Chess and Arpad Elo—the man...